France
1429 is a game of dynastic ambition, where players assume the roles of
nobles in the 15th century Kingdom of France. Each player strives to
become the most powerful ruling force in the Kingdom by gaining control
of Fief and Bishopric territories. In turn, they acquire Royal and
Ecclesiastical (church) titles which give their families influence to
elect the next Pope and King. Players strengthen their positions by
negotiating marriage alliances between their families, setting the stage
for love treachery and deception!
In Fief: France 1429, a player may attempt to gain control of all the
villages in a Fief to gain the Royal Title of Baron, Earl or Duke. For
each Fief a player controls, he gains 1 VP. These Titled Lords may now
take part in the election for the next King. They may even be a
candidate to become King, thus bringing 1 VP and more power to the
family! Other members of your family may follow the calling of the
Church to gain the Ecclesiastical Titles of Bishop and then Cardinal.
These titles allow you to Tithe Bishoprics, taking the Church's (i.e.
"your") fair share of income from other Fief Lords! The highest goal
your clerical family member can attain is to be elected Pope, bringing 1
VP and special privileges to your family!
You win the game as soon as you have 3 VPs. This is easier said than
done and you may need to form alliances with other players through
diplomacy and marriage to obtain your goal. When one of your family
members marries a noble of another family, the two of you become allied.
You now win the game together with 4 VPs and cannot win alone, unless
your marriage is annulled by the Pope or your spouse is "mysteriously"
murdered or dies of some other foul means!
In addition to being wary of your fellow players, you may draw event
cards that can quickly change your destiny. Bounty Event cards are
beneficial to the Player and include "Good Harvest", "Good Weather" and
"Added Taxes" cards. But some cards are Disaster Cards that can randomly
effect all players in specific Bishoprics. These include "The Plague",
"Heavy Rain", "Famine", and "Peasant Uprisings"!
Income can be increased by players imposing church tithes on their
opponent's villages or taxing their own Fiefs. Players may purchase new
Fief titles, improve their village incomes with mills, and fortify their
cities.
Players will also need to protect their land and castles. Men at Arms
and Knights can be purchased, as well as Siege Engines. If you feel that
other players are not running their Fiefs as well as you can, you may
try to invade their territories! But you must risk one of your family
members to lead the troops into possible battle, where they might be
killed or taken prisoner. If two opposing armies are in the same village
square, a Battle may be initiated. The players assess the size and
strength of their armies, which determine the number of Battle Dice each
may roll. Each "f" rolled is a hit. Men at Arms are defeated with one
hit, while Knights require three hits to be removed from the battle.
